


A Spoonful Of Sugar

by myracingthoughts



Series: Darcy Lewis Bingo [22]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Disney, F/M, Fluff, Implied Relationships, Mary Poppins References, Timeline What Timeline
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-16 23:35:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29090652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/myracingthoughts/pseuds/myracingthoughts
Summary: It seemed everyone involved could vividly remember the first day they ever met Darcy Lewis.Although most days it was hard to place it— that day when she suddenly was. It was kind of like she floated out of the sky if they thought about it too hard.Like she had drifted in on a breeze and landed right into their laps.
Relationships: Clint Barton/Darcy Lewis, Darcy Lewis & Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Darcy Lewis & Peter Parker
Series: Darcy Lewis Bingo [22]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927495
Comments: 10
Kudos: 86
Collections: Darcy Lewis Bingo





	A Spoonful Of Sugar

**Author's Note:**

> A tiny piece of a Darcy-centric Mary Poppins AU I've been fiddling with for almost a year. Special thanks to @treaddelicately for assuring me I'd just been looking at it for too long.
> 
> Nothing but love and respect for our **Doctor** Darcy Lewis in this house— though, in this fic, she's a nanny. Enjoy!
> 
> This was written for Darcy Lewis Bingo and checks off box D4 - Disney AU.

It seemed everyone involved could vividly remember the first day they ever met Darcy Lewis.

Although most days it was hard to place it— that day when she suddenly _was_. It was kind of like she floated out of the sky if they thought about it too hard. Like she had drifted in on a breeze and landed right into their laps. 

One day they were chasing out their last nanny with adventures and tantrums, and the next, they were sitting in the living room of Tony and Pepper Stark’s Manhattan penthouse.

* * *

**2023**

Peter and Morgan had just been introduced to their new nanny. She wasn’t like most of the other residents of the Tower, not with her assorted knits, striped socks and likely thrifted wardrobe. Darcy Lewis didn’t have superpowers or inhuman abilities, or a mutant gene. She was even below-average height— shorter than Peter and Tony and looking a little like Morgan as she stood in the doorway next to Pepper.

Darcy Lewis had flown in from London to pass Tony and Pepper’s ten-point security risk assessment and background check because they were desperate for someone to look after the kids— Peter was, of course, always considered part of the family.

And, as far as Peter and Morgan were concerned, she probably wouldn’t even make it past the afternoon. After all, they’d been through six nannies in just as many weeks, with the last one running off screaming at the first sign of a sentient robot.

Amateur.

In an effort to get the kids to warm up to her, and hopefully not assume she’d be another temporary measure, Tony and Pepper watched on from the kitchen as they chatted. Peter, Morgan and Darcy sat over tea and subjected Darcy to the best rapid-fire questions they could manage.

“Daddy said you’re from London. Like Harry Potter!” Morgan blabbed animatedly, flinging her hands into her lap as she spoke. “But why don’t you have an accent?”

“Morgan, you can’t just ask that,” Peter chastised before his eyes slid over to Darcy cautiously. He even slipped on a nervous smile as he added, “But-but, why _don’t_ you have an accent?”

“Oh, I only studied there. American through and through,” Darcy said, putting up a two-finger salute. “Scout’s honour.” 

Even if she had never been a Scout in her life.

And so it went, detailing everything from her favourite books and movies (“Wow, that’s _ancient_!”) to her taste in pizza toppings. Nothing seemed off-limits, and Darcy seemed to have an answer for every question, no matter how irrelevant or long-winded. 

It wasn’t long before Morgan was detailing her day at school yesterday, telling Darcy about each of her classmates as Peter sunk into the couch, immersed in his phone.

Tony was too busy swiping through his email to notice, but Darcy could see Pepper smiling at her answers from the corner of her eyes. It was no secret that the kids had the final say in her becoming their nanny— or rather, her performance that afternoon would be the main deciding factor. So, Darcy brought a secret weapon with her, or, at least, someone who’d be able to help handle the occasional enemy interrupting playtime. 

Darcy Lewis wasn’t just a nanny; she was a package deal. She made that _very_ clear in the pre-interviews. But her other half would also need approval from the family.

A knock at the door interrupted the silence. 

_Speak of the devil_.

“That’s probably Clint,” Darcy called over to Pepper, making to get up, but Pepper waved her off, heading towards the entryway.

“No, no, stay with the kids,” Pepper assured. “I’ve got the door.”

The slightly ruffled blond behind the door offered a bashful smile. He was late (no surprise there), but he seemed to relax at the sight of Darcy further into the suite.

“Come on in,” Pepper ushered with an open palm, and the man slunk into the apartment— the only thing that managed to pry Tony’s gaze away from his phone.

As the children were going to be out in public with a nanny, there were many security risks to consider. So, Clint would be here on SHIELD agent duty to make sure none of them risked becoming kidnap victims. Darcy might have said this like it was a joke— which might have unnerved Jane more than she would’ve liked —but it was a very serious reality drilled into her by Natasha Romanov herself.

And so, the trio would have their own personal bodyguard, courtesy of SHIELD. Far be it for Tony and Pepper to doing anything half-assed, after all.

“Who’s that?” Morgan was the first to address the elephant in the room, climbing onto the cushion to stare at him over the back of the couch.

“Clint’s our very own personal SHIELD agent,” Darcy said in a sing-song voice that would put The Price Is Right to shame.

“Is that why he has so many boo-boos?”

Darcy huffed a laugh as Clint picked at the bandages on his arms and face like he’d just noticed they were there. It looked like he was about to say something for himself, maybe explain the various scrapes and bruises that he seemed to attract like one giant, disastrous magnet, but Darcy beat him to the punch.

“No, sweetheart. I assure you, that’s all him.”

Clint didn’t offer much in the way of words as the kids peppered Darcy with more questions.

“Where did you meet him?” 

“New Mexico.” 

“What was in New Mexico?”

“A Norse god.”

But she could see him grin as she told the kids some stories from her time being Avengers-adjacent. Even if it had been short-lived up until now.

The final test of the day was a trip to a nearby park to see how Darcy would fare under pressure. 

It was the kind of spring day Darcy could have indulged in. The sun was high and bright, the temperature just high enough to warrant a light sweater, and the nearby park was miraculously— if not mysteriously— just busy enough to keep the kids entertained. 

Darcy held Morgan’s hand the whole way down, Clint giving them some space as they crossed streets and rounded blocks. But once they got to the park and Darcy set the kids onto the playground, he gave up the charade and settled onto the bench next to her.

“They seem like good kids,” Clint started, wrapping his arm around the back of the bench, so it was just brushing Darcy’s shoulder.

“I think so too,” Darcy said, eyes not moving from Peter pushing Morgan on the nearby swing set. “What are you dying to ask, Clint? I can hear you thinking from here.”

She always could tell when he was hesitating. Over a decade of being a spy and Darcy Lewis could break him down with a single look, a few well-placed words. He’d always boiled it down to a hunch with her, that things weren’t exactly what they seemed.

That no one person could just happen to land themselves in as much trouble as Darcy Lewis somehow had no problem finding.

“Why’d you pick me? You had your pick of the litter.”

“Beyond you being a kid yourself?” Darcy snarked under her breath to his chagrin. “You know why, Clint.”

Sure, he was assigned to protect her and the kids, but that didn’t mean Darcy didn’t want him there for her own reasons. The opposite, actually. She and Clint Barton had a relationship that stretched all the way back to that tiny town in New Mexico, to a couple nights in a run-down bar over way too many drinks. To a long stretch of email correspondence and the occasional phone call.

To that warm smile she could paint blindfolded if she tried hard enough.

Finding a smudge on his cheek —she _wished_ it was surprising— Darcy reached over and brushed it with her thumb, taking in the warm look he offered in return.

He smirked, facing back to watch the kids play, “You always had a soft spot for me, darlin’.”

“You know me,” Darcy said with a little twinkle in her eyes. He didn’t have to turn his head to see it.

“Yes, I do,” he seemed to pause, carefully considering her words. “Those kids, though…”

He didn’t have to say anymore. Darcy knew what he meant. She had a tendency, just like him, to attract trouble and _anomalies_ for lack of a better word. But that was part of the reason they were both there, hoping their particular brand of odd would be the perfect fit for two children that knew better than to think fairy tales were fiction.

“There will be no teleportation or dancing on the ceiling today, Clinton. I assure you,” Darcy stated levelly, closing the issue with one soft smile.

Darcy didn’t offer anything else in return, though it didn’t take much for her to read between the lines. And Clint didn’t push, hovering just far away enough for a passerby to not know he was a part of the group. Watchful eyes taking in every potential threat and danger, and the little looks he snuck Darcy’s way when the kids weren’t looking.

They were twenty minutes into playtime when Morgan went into a full-blown meltdown in the middle of Manhattan. Any other nanny that Peter had ever seen would probably be panicked by now, worried that any misstep at the hands of a Stark would be disastrous. Even Peter didn’t know quite what to do when Morgan got like this. 

But looking over at Darcy, she didn’t seem deterred.

In fact, was she _smiling_?

“Here, let’s sit down for a second, alright?” Darcy soothed, propping Morgan on her hip as she ferried them over to a nearby bench.

Darcy quickly pulled the leather purse off her shoulder, unlocking the old-fashioned clasp at the top and sticking her hands in. It almost looked unnatural from Peter’s angle, the way her arm seemed to reach in deeper than physically possible for the backpack-sized shoulder bag. But after making sure Clint wasn’t as freaked out as his brain was trying not to be, Peter tried to keep the questioning looks to himself, insisting it was just an optical illusion as Morgan sniffled.

“Here, honey,” Darcy said, pushing a large, blue helmet into the girl’s hands, silver hardware glittering in the sun.

“Rescue?!”

Morgan latched on like her life depended on it, sniffling subsiding as she hugged it close to her chest. Peter was left open-mouthed and staring. There was no way she’d had time to grab that from the suite before they left. And how could she even know where it was kept in the first place? 

But before he could even question how Darcy managed to have that on-hand, Peter’s cellphone buzzed and beeped a very particular tune in his pocket.

Peter stiffened as he stared down at the screen, “That’s the—”

But Peter didn’t get a chance to tell Darcy the rest. Before he could even finish the sentence, she had already pulled a spare Spider-Man suit, mask and all, out from that same small purse.

“— _signal_. Hey, thanks, Darcy,” Peter sputtered out, staring at her in open-mouthed shock. 

He rubbed the back of his neck as he inspected the suit, making sure all the pieces were there, and they were. Peter couldn’t help but be taken aback by her preparedness and unfaltering smile. But he was also a little suspicious, trying to get a better look at her bag as she snapped it shut.

“It was nothing!” Darcy assured with a warm smile. “Clint will get us back, but be safe out there, OK?”

“Uh, yeah. Will do.” 

Peter hesitated, not because he didn’t know what to say, but because he was trying to piece together what had just happened. Whatever it was, he might have to hit up Doctor Strange for some thoughts on this mysterious Darcy Lewis woman. Because, frankly, he’d known her for all of an hour, and she already made less than zero sense. 

But Morgan seemed happy, he realized, drinking her juice box with a Rescue helmet in her lap. And that was the important part, right?

“Thanks, Darcy,” Peter added gratefully, with one last slightly skeptical look before taking off.

“No problem! Tomorrow we’re having tea, so if I don’t see you before, I’ll see you then,” Darcy called out after him.

A little dumbstruck, smile still somehow on his face, Peter huffed a laugh and shook his head. Sure, he’d seen a lot of weird things in his time with the Avengers, but he was starting to think Darcy Lewis took the cake.

Maybe one day he’d get to the bottom of it, but today was not that day.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading. All comments, kudos and bookmarks are loved and cherished.
> 
> I don't have any planned Taserhawk fics at the moment, but I do [take prompts on my Tumblr](https://pasmonblog.tumblr.com/post/635410523601649664), if you'd like to see any more of this or anything else I write.


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